Toronto Employment and Labour Blog: Sure Signs You Are About To Be Fired - Sign #3

SIGN #3 - SPECIAL PROJECTS

Your boss tells you that you will be handling "special assignments" and will no longer be carrying out your normal responsibilities. At the same time you are informed that your office will be moved on a "temporary" basis to the annex where you will begin sharing a secretary with two others.

The Implication of such a move is usually clear. You have become peripheral to the central focus of your organization. You are perceived as being disruptive to the work group. You are being warned that your behaviour must change or you will be permanently sidelined. The move may mean your employer is engaged in a process to make you so uncomfortable that you resign, saving him the trouble and cost of firing you.

Your options are to respectfully attempt to carry out the project in the hope that your cooperation and diligence impresses your employer. Approach your superior in order to clarify exactly what is expected of you and over what period of time. If there is, in reality, no job to be done, but the "project" is a make-work project designed to sideline and frustrate you, it is best to address the situation immediately. Schedule a meeting in order to determine, if possible, your superior's motives and to explore alternatives to "project assignment".

An aggressive or confrontational approach is not useful. Nor is a finger-pointing exercise. "Am I being set up to be fired?" "Are you looking for a cheap resignation?" are not questions that should be asked. Rather, "How can I make my participation in the department more productive?" is a question likely to elicit a positive response. Cooperation rather than confrontation is a strategy that is likely to succeed.

Keep in mind that your employer can fire you at any time without the need to provide you with a reason for doing so, as long as it lives up to its contractual or other legal obligations with regard to notice and severance. The only time a rationale for the firing is needed is when you are fired for justifiable cause without notice or severance. It is only then that there is an onus that falls on the employer to justify its actions. The fact that you are assigned to a special "project" does not give you any legal leverage unless your employer has breached your employment agreement by its actions. Only an experienced employment lawyer is able to make that determination.

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